


Tag

by Queen_Cuntpunt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: One-Shot, Sad, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28538742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Cuntpunt/pseuds/Queen_Cuntpunt
Summary: It became a game of sorts, passing Harry off like some game of tag...
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	Tag

It began innocently enough. A frustrated Lily, tired of being left behind during order missions surprised them all. Rushing a baby Harry into Jame's arms and announcing "Tag, you're it!" and running out of the room before her husband had time to even respond. Placing her baby safely in her husbands care until her return from the mission.

Sirius had been next, completely unprepared for when James turned around and did it to him the next time the three had been together and Dumbledore had work for them to do. He had passed a toddler Harry into his lap as though he were a hot potato and rushed to grab his wife to escape on a mission together. Screaming out the dreaded phrase "Tag! You're it" with all the glee of a runaway toddler.

Of course Sirius, in turn, felt the overwhelming need to continue what was quickly becoming tradition. Pawning Harry off on Remus the next time a mission was waiting. Making sure to announce "Tag You're it" in the most singsong voice he could muster. Round and round they went, passing the child back and forth to ensure everybody was fighting the good fight and ensuring somebody always had an eye on the child.

Sure there were missions he was upset to sit out on, sometimes missions he didn't want to risk sending both parents on, but still Sirius kept tradition. They were a family and Harry was everyone's responsibility even if they treated it like a game. 

Lily had joked once that baby Harry would end up coming to age confusing his name for Tag with how often they said it. But still they persisted, a smile on the face of the giver and the taker.

That game ended that fateful night. When Peter betrayed everyone, when everything went to shit. It all ended when he ended up locked away forever in some desolate tower with nothing but memories. 

Even upon his escape he knew things would never be the same. There would be no James to hand him a baby Harry, no Lily to tease him over child duty. He couldn't just leave him in the hands of another and hope for the best. He was the closest thing to family Harry had left and that family was too small. That phrase died with James and Lily, there was no Tag, there was only him and the desperate need to watch over Harry.

Funny how the strangest thoughts pop into your head in the end, because even as he slipped through the veil his thoughts were not of Bellatrix, not of the fight around him, it was that momentary glimpse of Remus grabbing onto Harry in the chaos, and the thundering thought.

"Tag, you are it"

**Author's Note:**

> Felt like something short-and-sad. 
> 
> Drop a prompt in the comments. trying to brush the dust off of my writing.


End file.
